Finally! XBOX ONE Gets 3D Blu-ray Support

Yes! Finally Microsoft will be implementing 3D Blu-ray support for it's XBOX ONE console with a new software update coming in August. This marks the first time the XBOX platform will offer the cool feature.

This is HUGE news in the platform gaming and entertainment field. 3D support adds the immersion that is expected with console owners as anyone with a PS3 and 3D TV will attest to.

Some other improvements coming with the update:

• Activity feed updates, and expanded friend area on Home screen: you'll be able to see what your friends are doing, and be more aware of it right from the Xbox One dashboard. And it'll show how long a friend's been away from his or her console.
• Mobile purchases: You can buy games or other content from the SmartGlass app or from Xbox.com, and have it download right to your Xbox One remotely.
• Low battery notification: You can already peek at your controller's battery level, but a pop-up warning now lets you know when it needs a recharge.
• Disable notifications during video: It's amazing this wasn't available before.
• OneGuide in Brazil, Mexico, Austria and Ireland: Four more countries can try connecting their Xbox One to their TV and browse TV listings.

Those with early preview access could get these updates as soon as this week.

Sony's Playstation 4 still hasn't updated with 3D support as of yet, but it is expected as they did with the Playstation 3 support for 3D Blu-rays (that I am still enjoying tremendously).

Now I'm considering an XBOX ONE purchase whereas I've always been a Sony guy. Congratulations on the 3D support Microsoft! Thanks for the heads up Tobias!

Source: XBOX Wire

Microsoft And Skype Developing 3D Video Calls

Tim here, and I've got a few stories that are all being posted together. These are stories I've colleced over the last week, but have been busy editing a project for a recurring client. Please also check out the latest news on Apple's Patent for 3D Gesture and Moulin Rouge! 3D.
Hot news from Skype yesterday: Skype has confirmed it is developing 3D video calls! Revealed by a senior executive in a BBC interview marking the 10-Year Anniversary of Skype, the technology is said to be years from launch.

"We've done work in the labs looking at the capability of 3D-screens and 3D-capture," said Microsoft's corporate vice-president for Skype, Mark Gillett. "We've seen a lot of progress in screens and a lot of people now buy TVs and computer monitors that are capable of delivering a 3D image. But the capture devices are not yet there. As we work with that kind of technology you have to add multiple cameras to your computer, precisely calibrate them and point them at the right angle. We have it in the lab, we know how to make it work and we're looking at the ecosystem of devices and their capability to support it in order to make a decision when we might think about bringing something like that to market."

Gillett went on to further express his belief that autostereoscopic screens are pivotal to expanding 3D-capable screens in homes, whether it's a 3DTV, 3D Tablet, or 3D Phone. "I can imagine a day when you have a 3D-cellphone screen that doesn't need 3D-glasses to use it," he said. He went on to add that first TV's will have 1080 HD cameras attached for video calls, and then "you'll see much more penetration of 3D on TVs, on computers and ultimately in smartphones, probably, ahead of seeing it for sending a video call."

This is exciting news. Imagine, not too long from you, you'll be able to video chat with people in 3D using Skype! It's pretty exciting stuff.

3D GAMING: XBOX ONE To Support 3D And 4K

Tim here, and I've got some news for XBOX users regarding 4K and 3D! The new XBOX ONE will support 4K resolution and 3D output! This was revealed last week by Microsoft's Larry Hryb in a Yahoo chat session.

In response to a question regarding whether the new console will include these features Hryb stated "XBOX ONE supports both 3-D and 4K, including 4K for Blu-Ray."

In regards to 4K adoption it is not without its hurdles. Sony Electronics in February stated that 4K videos require downloads over 100GB in file size. Whoa! That's a huge file. Considering the XBOX ONE comes with 500 GB of internal storage, that would mean about 5 4K movies could be stored on the device at that size. Also, internet speeds are not yet fast enough to speedily get 100 GB quickly when downloading.

While Sony's Playstation 4 (PS4) will support 4K output for photos and videos, it will not support 4K games. Microsoft has confirmed that XBOX ONE games will support both native 4K and upscaling to 4K.

Look out for more info regarding XBOX ONE and its 3D support on MarketSaw. Read more about XBOX ONE on its official website.

3D Geek Alert: Check Out A New See Through 3D Desktop From Microsoft!

Wow. These guys have come a long way and it's quite ingenious to incorporate a transparent OLED screen for this purposing. I can certainly see how this would eloquently transcribe to larger screens as well as glasses too.



What do you think? Kinda exciting to see these inventions during their infancy!

Looking forward to seeing more and more 3D technology come out of Microsoft as they realize that 3D is growing rapidly and they are heavy, HEAVY investors in R&D...

Thanks for the heads up EBostock! :-)

GAMING UPDATE: HALO Going 3D *AND* MasterImage's Glasses Free Display - 500 Times Better Than The 3DS!

Time for a 3D gaming update! And it's a humdinger on two fronts...

Microsoft's humungous gaming franchise HALO is going 3D for the upcoming November release of HALO: ANNIVERSARY. The game will be a reboot of the original HALO game made (can you believe it) 10 years ago.

Further it is the first of the lot to NOT be made by Bungie Software. Really looking forward to this!

*AND*

Word is starting to get out about MasterImage 3D's new 4.3" WVGA (this is the same one I reported on back in May). Venturebeat's Dean Takahashi demoed one recently and was suitably impressed.

Says Takahashi: "The quality blew me away. On a 4.3-inch WVGA screen, Taylor showed that he could demonstrate a 3D movie running in stereoscopic 3D. I didn’t need to wear glasses to see the sharp 3D imagery. When I moved my head, it didn’t get blurry. And if I moved my head too far to the side, it gracefully transitioned to a two-dimensional image."

Roy Taylor, EVP & GM For MasterImage 3D recently said: “We’ve measured their alignment accuracy and we believe we’re 500 percent more accurate than the 3DS. We don’t have any issues with eye strain.”

I was not impressed with the Nintendo 3DS from the very start. In fact the best thing about it was their marketing I suppose. I found the screen to be headache inducing and just not a pleasurable gaming experience. Personally I think Nintendo should seriously consider the cell matrix parallax barrier technology from MasterImage 3D for any future handheld needs.

But that's not the end of the product line from MasterImage 3D. 7" and 10" tablet screens are coming this fall! Stay tuned!!

Source: VentureBeat

HELIUM3D: A Head-Tracking, Autostereoscopic, Body Controlled Gaming System!?

Michael here.  Now this is exciting.  Autostereoscopic, head tracking, multiuser, AND body-based motion controls?  Meet HELIUM3D: An interactive 3D body-sensing system developed by a team at De Montfort University that seems like it might give Microsoft's Project Natal a run for its money.

We're getting closer to the Holodeck / Matrix every day it seems!

Read more below: (Source: De Montfort University, via Video Game Media).

The [Imaging and Displays Research] group specialises in advanced autostereoscopic 3D displays and under our latest project HELIUM3D we are developing a revolutionary interactive 3DTV system which could change the way television is watched and computer games are played. The €4.2 million (roughly £3.9 million) HELIUM3D (high efficiency, laser-based, multi-user, multi-modal 3D display) project aims to develop a television that can recognise where somebody is sitting in a room and what they wish to view and interact with on their television.

Researchers believe it is a step towards truly interactive 3D video games where gamers use their bodies to control the action without the need for a controller.

The project is also exploring ways of allowing viewers who are watching the same television to each view a different channel at the same time and could even let them choose different viewing positions within the image.

For example, groups of people watching a football match in the same room could each pick the part of the stadium from which they would like to experience the action.

The 3D effect will be seen without special glasses and will use head-tracking technology developed during previous 3DTV research projects led by DMU to deliver the perfect image to every viewer.

The system will not only display standard 3DTV, it will also allow viewers to experience an effect known as motion parallax or the ‘look-around effect’. This is where the image has a ‘holographic’ quality, giving it a greater sense of depth and movement than standard 3D.

Researchers at DMU’s Imaging and Displays Research Group (IDRG) are leading the work, with partners from: Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institut; Philips Consumer Lifestyle; Technical University Eindhoven; Nanjing University in China; Barco, a display hardware manufacturer in Belgium; University College London; and Koç University in Turkey.

The project is supported by £2.8 million funding from the European Commission’s Framework 7 programme.

Researchers working on HELIUM3D will also be exploring the display’s potential in professional applications, including medical imaging, video conferencing, engineering design and oil and gas exploration.

DMU’s Dr Ian Sexton, Head of the Imaging and Displays Research Group, said: “The inherent flexibility of the HELIUM display takes it beyond mere 3D and will open up a whole new world of exciting interactive possibilities.

“The display will give gamers a new freedom to enjoy interactive 3D television and games – for example viewers or gamers will be able to see 3D on the HELIUM TV and also interact with the game through the viewer sensing built into the system wherever they are in the room and without 3D glasses. This will make 3D games more natural, exciting and ‘real’.”

He added: “The system will also be used for more serious uses such as medical imaging; doctors and surgeons will be able to intuitively ‘fly’ through a 3D scan of a person to make a diagnosis or to prepare for an operation, making a 3D display that will be useful to a wide audience.”

Previous 3D systems have used flat panel displays in their design but HELIUM3D will use a new type of front screen.

The Gabor superlens screen used by DMU researchers replaces the usual LCD screen found on commercial television sets and is much more efficient than other technologies.

This will allow brighter whites and darker blacks, meaning the resulting image will be much more vivid than in previous 3D projects.

The HELIUM3D funding from the European Commission is the latest in a string of projects which the IDRG has worked on over the past seven years, worth nearly £14 million in total.

Also check out the Helium3D project website for more details.

It's Baaaack: The James Cameron / Jon Landau Discussion At Microsoft Advance 08

Jim here. It disappeared for awhile (old link was here) - but an intrepid reader of MarketSaw (thanks Mirza!) sent me the link so that we can watch the excellent conversation between James Cameron and Jon Landau at Microsoft Advance 08. They spoke there as they used Microsoft to co-develop an digital asset management system to track all of the components of their shots (blades of grass, vines, buildings, etc).

They talk mainly about AVATAR and the technology that they used for the project. It's about 50 minutes long. A few things of note:

1. They have 120 cameras surrounding their performance capture volume.
2. Actors wore a headset similar to what Madonna wears for her concerts - but rather than a mike in front of her face, it is a camera - capturing all of their facial movements.
3. Cameron used a virtual camera that he held with both hands and he was able to scan around the volume in realtime and have a crude CGI mockup display for him with the actors and backgrounds in place - buildings, mountains, jungle - you name it. Very powerful.

Here is the link. It should spawn Windows Media Player.

If that one doesn't work for whatever reason, go here and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "James Cameron and Producer Jon Landau of Lightstorm Entertainment".

If you have further notes that you would like to share from the video, by all means list them in the comments. I chose these as my highlights.

Gaming Fan Site: Halo 3 Photos in 3D

You are going to need anaglyph (red and blue) glasses for these photos - they look awesome.

The contributor offers a tutorial for creating your own 3D stereographic images here.

Even in 2D - kinda looks like a halo on these guys...